Project Plan- A Tale of 2 Zip Codes: Voter Enfranchisement in Oklahoma

I am studying voter enfranchisement in Oklahoma because I am passionate about American democracy and believe that the only sustainable democratic government is one elected by a majority representative of citizen population. Through a detailed analysis of two contrasting zip codes in Tulsa, 74106 and 74114, I intend to frame a picture of racial and economic disenfranchisement plaguing the Oklahoma democratic process.

Oklahoma’s First Legislature included A. C. Hamlin, elected in 1908, who was the only African American elected to state office until 1964. Though African Americans participated in Oklahoma territorial votes in the 1890s and the earliest state elections, the 1910 “grandfather clause” effectively excluded African Americans from voting in Oklahoma until the 1960s civil rights movement (Franklin). The echoes of this injustice still reverberate through the election process in Oklahoma. It is my goal to shed light on these continued inequities in voting accessibility in an effort to make real and lasting change in the voting landscape in Tulsa. I believe that with greater visibility there is a better likelihood that these issues may be addressed.

My research begins with a history of voting in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Historical Society has as vast collection of public voting records as well as documents from the Oklahoma State Legislature. Used in conjunction with census data, pictorial archives from the Ruth Siegler Avery Tulsa Race Riot Archive at OSU-Tulsa, the Beryl Ford Collection at the Tulsa Public Library, and the Library of Congress will provide the historical context to the analysis of demographic and voter data sets. In this way I will anchor the often antiseptic nature of facts and figures in the greater story of the under-represented minorities in Oklahoma.

I decided upon the 74106 and 74114 zip codes for my analysis based on preliminary research using data from the Tulsa County Election Board and StatisticalAtlas.com, an organization that has highly organized statistical breakouts of the 2010 US Census and up-to-date American Community Survey data. My primary reasons for choosing these two zip codes were their relatively similar population sizes and number of residences while maintaining very disproportionate ethnic and income demographics. 74106 is one of only two Tulsa zip codes that have an African American majority while 74114 has one of the lowest percentage of African American residents. The median income of 74114 is also more than three times that of the 74106 (Overview 74106 and 74114). In the 2014 national election, 34% of the total population of the 74114 zip code cast a ballot while only 15% of the total population of the 74106 exercised this right (“Election Results”). Those percentages account for total population which will skew the comparison (there are more individuals unable to register to vote due to age and other factors in 74106) however there is plenty of additional information available for a more detailed and accurate analysis.

EDIT:: I am adding this edit to my original post after having a 4am epiphany that much of my research was inspired by Rev. Ron Robinson, Executive Director at the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship in Turley, OK. (http://www.turleyok.blogspot.com) My hope is that he will be willing to allow me to interview him as he is a source of a great amount of information about North Tulsa and has done a great deal of data analysis on voting, life expectancy, poverty, and host of other pertinent information.

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Franklin, Jimmie Lewis. “African Americans.” Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society, 2008. Web. 28 Sept. 2015. <http://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entryname=AFRICAN+AMERICANS&gt;.

Oklahoma State Election Board. “Election Results.” Statewide General Election-November 4, 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2015

“Overview of ZIP Code 74106, Oklahoma (ZIP Code).” Statistical Atlas. Cedar Lake Ventures, Inc, 19 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015. <http://statisticalatlas.com/zip/74106/Overview&gt;.

“Overview of ZIP Code 74114, Oklahoma (ZIP Code).” Statistical Atlas. Cedar Lake Ventures, Inc, 19 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2015. <http://statisticalatlas.com/zip/74106/Overview&gt;.